Off Topic > General Furry Talk
Furry "'zines", APA's or comicbooks of Europe?
VulpesRex:
--- Quote from: doco on 04.06.2014, 10:38:06 ---Executive summary:
No, there isn't. Really.
European furry fandom has completely different origins than its American counterpart. There were a few feeble attempts in the late 90s, but these had a highly limited circulation. I think Cairyn can tell a story or two about these fanzine attempts.
The details about the early fandom are available on http://furry.de/furryhistory/ but it all happened online, really.
--- End quote ---
*Shocked Astonishment*
--- Quote from: Cheetah on 04.06.2014, 11:20:38 ---Yup, as one of the official Greybeards of the European Fandom(TM), I can certify that doco is absolutely right. The European Fanom largely formed AFTER old Zine/APA/B&W Comic scene collapsed. The European Fandom was largely internet based from the very beginning, and it is 100% based on the early american internet furry fandom subgroup - so it has no pre-existing science fiction fandom heritage.
So, the earliest influences in the european fandom were furrymuck, alt.fan.furry, avatar, tapestries and the most important "publisher" was effectively the CTRL-C computer club in Linköping/Sweden, hosting both the velan central library and SPF-Muck.
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*Stunned, dumbfounded silence*
--- Quote from: Cairyn on 04.06.2014, 14:41:37 ---Oh, the good old times.
doco and Cheetah are right, European fandom was mostly feeding on the teats of American fandom back in the day. While European comics had some anthropomorphic characters*, there never was a core cell of animators and cartoonists that kickstarted a dedicated fandom for them, as it happened for American artists (plus the science fiction fandom and their enthusiasts which provided the environment for meetings). Sure, there are both comic conventions and science fiction cons in Europe, even back then, but the "klick" between them and anthropomorphics was missing. (In Germany, I'd blame at least partially the lingering bad attitude towards comics in toto.)
The European fandom started only when American channels like alt.fan.furry and a few furry comics made their way over the big pond....
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*Totally Gob-smacked*
> *A lot of good information snipped for brevity*
--- Quote ---Also, European fandom is swiftly transforming into a fursuit fandom. I can't claim that art, comics, and stories are relegated to the sidelines but the major growth is clearly in suits.
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> *More snippage*
--- Quote -------- Footnotes -----
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> * I'm clipping and saving all this stuff which I am snipping, by the way*
--- Quote ---*** Notable exception: Gay porn comics.
**** Gay self-discovery is one of the big themes in the US furry book market. That has, somehow, not been an issue in Europe, and not even this very specialized book theme was attempted by any European authors. Or maybe it is a lack of dedicated furry publishers who would be interested in distribution.
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Yes - while I am certainly not opposed to this, it seems to be crowding out any OTHER sort of theme or plot or story - I have heard an author or two complain about certain furry publishers declining to print anything else - and I'm hoping that Sofawolf Press' reps can address that question.
************
Well, that was quite a revelation. I have been laboring under a false assumption all this time, and I bet that I am not the only american furry fan to have been so ignorant (I probably should have consulted with Fred, first).
Thank you, Gentlemen, for filling in that void in my knowledge. I am rather forced to conclude that there wouldn't be much demand to attend a panel on the subject.
VulpesRex:
--- Quote from: Tseatah on 04.06.2014, 15:32:51 ---Only one that I can think of was based out of the UK in the early nineties - AnthropoMORPHINE - more details at http://en.wikifur.com/wiki/AnthropoMORPHINE
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Actually, I had heard of that one - the american fan PeterCat had a monthy auto-post on alf.fan.furry listing titles and sources for furry comics, and that is where I first came to know the title...but never saw a copy, alas!
MOW:
--- Quote from: Cairyn on 04.06.2014, 14:41:37 ---doco and Cheetah are right, European fandom was mostly feeding on the teats of American fandom back in the day. While European comics had some anthropomorphic characters*, there never was a core cell of animators and cartoonists that kickstarted a dedicated fandom for them, as it happened for American artists (plus the science fiction fandom and their enthusiasts which provided the environment for meetings).
--- End quote ---
That's not completely true. While this community here that grew with Eurofurence does have its roots in the American fandom, even keeping the denomination "furry" regardless of local language, there were (and still are) others that preceded us, but we never have connected with them much as a fandom.
Most important German example would be the donaldists. People from that group like Volker Reiche with magazines like Hinz&Kunz have created stuff that would definitively qualify as "furry" before our part of the fandom even started. And they are still active, though barely reaching the triple digits in attendance at their yearly conventions.
Cairyn:
--- Quote from: MOW on 15.06.2014, 05:03:24 ---That's not completely true. While this community here that grew with Eurofurence does have its roots in the American fandom, even keeping the denomination "furry" regardless of local language, there were (and still are) others that preceded us, but we never have connected with them much as a fandom.
Most important German example would be the donaldists. People from that group like Volker Reiche with magazines like Hinz&Kunz have created stuff that would definitively qualify as "furry" before our part of the fandom even started. And they are still active, though barely reaching the triple digits in attendance at their yearly conventions.
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Undoubtedly there were anthropomorphic characters before the term "furry" was coined, and certain anthropomorphic themes and characters had (or still have) fans and fan groups of their own.
But I daresay they had nothing to do with the formation of the early fandom, which was the original focus, so any of their publications would not really qualify as furry zine. The German fandom did not spring from the ranks of the Donaldists or any other established group; despite the similarity of the theme I have never felt even the slightest influx from original German comic artists or their fans. Was there even an attempt to draw them into the fandom in those early days?
I must admit I never read any Donaldist writings; a former friend of mine used to be into that, but he never bought into the furry fandom, nor I into the Donaldist scene: I gathered that the tone and general feeling of these two groups is pretty different.
Cheetah:
--- Quote from: Cairyn on 18.06.2014, 01:24:20 ---But I daresay they had nothing to do with the formation of the early fandom, which was the original focus, so any of their publications would not really qualify as furry zine. The German fandom did not spring from the ranks of the Donaldists or any other established group; despite the similarity of the theme I have never felt even the slightest influx from original German comic artists or their fans. Was there even an attempt to draw them into the fandom in those early days?
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There's not even one, today. And the big belgo-french comic establishment has built a pretty high ivory tower, and doesn't really connect with the "people in animal costumes" fandom. I dare say, japanese comics had a WAY bigger influence on the furry fandom than the european ones. Which is kinda sad. Maybe we should do something to change that.
I'd love to have some european comic artists as GoH, the problem is ... they're really hard to get, and there's no real "fandom culture" over here, so it's hard to win them over for an event they don't even understand.
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